today, as we look back through the lens of time. the crisis of confidence america had with some of the most popular television shows of the fifties. thousands march to continue doctor king's final mission. and the debut of a certain lasagna loving cat. it's all today on "through the decades." here we relive, remember and relate to the news and trends of the day through the lens of time. "yes ... the 64 thousand dollar question." "the vice president puzzled students and teachers when he blundered during a spelling bee." "mr. simpson is a wanted murder suspect, two counts of murder, a terrible crime." i'm ellee pai hong.

i'm kerry sayers. and i'm your host, bill kurtis. this is "through the decades" we begin today in the 1950's with a national phenomenon. millions of americans were glued to their television sets every week to watch popular quiz shows; tuning in to watch contestants win thousands of dollars. but loyal viewers would be shocked as news emerged that the quiz shows were rigged. a web of lies and deceit revealed. america, 1956. the living rooms of millions became new arenas of drama and suspense. all played out in beaming black and white images. and for a country newly captivated by this craze called television there was no greater draw than the gluttony of quiz shows that dominated the networks.

"yes ... the 64 thousand dollar question." "penny to a million!" "as geritol, the high potency tonic that helps you feel stronger fast presents twenty- one." the high stakes of fortune coupled with a pressure of sudden demise. made for climactic entertainment that could not be missed . but this thrill would prove too good to be true. of all the quiz shows of the 1950's "twenty one" was the most seductive. owed in no small part to its handsome champion, charles van doren. "general h.w. halleck. you're right and you have eight points." *claps "eva maria saint. right you have ten points." *claps "patterson, joseph patterson. it would be and you have eight points." *claps van doren's streak began with a victory against herb stempel, the long-standing champ, whose fall came on this question. "what motion picture won the

academy award for 1955?" "on the waterfront?" "no, i'm sorry the answer is marty." minutes later, van doren would take over as the face of twenty one. "that's your answer? adequalpa?" "that's right." then you scored 21 points!" a fate that wasn't a consequence of chance but instead, one carefully scripted. a changing of the guard for an audience that had grown tired of stempel's reign. something the show's sponsor "geritol" deduced from the dip in ratings. van doren quickly asserted himself in pop culture answering his way to thousands of dollars and turning "twenty one" into must-see tv. meanwhile, a bitter herb stempel, forced to leave the spotlight became bent on exposing the show's fraud. he'd finally succeed in 1958, as a handul of other quiz shows

came crashing down. "tic-tac dough" "dotto" "the 64-thousand dollar challenge" and "twenty one", all eventually admitted to building their shows on lies. feeding contestants answers or pressuring others to lose on purpose. "charles van doren arrives to apologize and attempt to explain to the millions whose friendship and respect he had won." a deceived nation turned its back on quiz shows forcing a staple of early television to disappear from prime time for years. but the most significant change in the scandal's wake was the dethroning of single-sponsored programming. "revlon the greatest name in cosmetics, presents!" in the mid-50's, advertisers pulled the strings, not the networks. networks were simply vehicles of distribution geritol made the decision to rig "twenty one" not nbc.

then in 1960, congress made rigging a quiz show, a federal crime. as the decade progressed, networks started taking back control and began the long road towards restoring the integrity of broadcasting. a time when crime was a constant. a city that had had enough. then, in june of 1987, one man was about to be transformed into a modern new york city folk hero. "in the midst of beefed up security patrols and a citywide search for the man they call the subway vigilante." "he told witnesses as he fled he had acted in self defense, a passenger on the new york city subway, a white man said four black teenagers wielding sharpened screwdrivers pressed him for $5." "in new york city, they called him the death wish vigilante and many new yorkers cheered him." it was 1984, and frustrated new yorkers found an unlikely hero. bernard goetz.

"goetz, a 37 year old electronics repairman lived alone. he reportedly was obsessed with crime on the street and tried to get more police protection for his neighborhood." "you people have put upon him the label of vigilante. i put the label of just a guy with a scared guy ..a scared citizen" "he shot all four then fled through the subway tunnel. one of the wounded teenagers may be paralyzed for life. police hotlines set up to find the culprit have been flooded with calls. calls from new yorkers fed up with urban violence who proclaim the unknown gunm a hero." "i think we should have a few more like him." "they go out there to hurt people, kill people and so they got it." "but, official new york see things differently." "no one can with impunity take the law into their own hands and give instant justice. we will not permit it." when goetz shot four teenagers, paralyzing one of them, he hit a nerve with frustrated new

yorkers. "people are tired. working people are tired of riding the subways and being assaulted." "i'm afraid really to go to far. i don't venture very far only for an event, like tonight, i'm going to the garden, but i don't like traveling unless i'm with my husband, and i have two teenage daughters and i'm afraid for them." "sooner or later, i'm going to have to start carrying something, mace, a knife or something. you know what i'm saying?" his story was a familiar one in a city facing unprecendented crime. "if goetz had a grudge to bear it could have been born in this subway station nearly four years ago. he was beaten and robbed by three muggers. later he was turned down when he tried to get a gun permit." "i don't think he should be put in jail for protecting himself." "if it was self defense though what was the guy doing walking around the subway with a gun in his pocket?" goetz himself would tell wcbs his ordeal wasn't all that unique

"i think perhaps issues are being raised which society finds disturbing, but i really don't understand why so much commotion has been made over this." "you really don't?" "no, this was one more incident of street violence in new york city and that's how i see it." the new york city we know today is a far cry from the city then. "in recent years, times square has changed, more sex shops drugs, violence. in response, the city and state have put together a 1.6 billion dollar redevelopment plan. the aim is profit for the developers and for the city which now loses money on this high crime, low tax receipt area." it was against that backdrop that new yorkers watched goetz's case work its way through the legal system. first in january of '85. "the grand jury chose not to indict bernard goetz on four counts of attempted murder. instead the so called subway vigilante was indicted only for three weapons violations."

then, three months later. "now a second grand jury has decided he will be tried for attempted murder and assault in addition to the gun charge." and finally on june 16, 1987. "it took four days of deliberation to find bernard goetz not guilty of the most serious charges against him." "not guilty of assault or reckless endagerment . guilty only on a single charge. illegal possesion of an unlicensed gun." by the next decade the tide had turned in new york, and goetz would again find himself in court. this time in a civil case. "it took less than five hours for a black and hispanic jury to throw the book at subway gunman bernard goetz. jurors concluded that goetz deliberately, recklessly and unjustifiably shot darryl kaybe in the back 12 years ago and therefore should pay the paralyzed young man 43 million dollars in damages." goetz would immediately declare bankruptcy and eventually embrace his celebrity. he'd make a few television and

small film appearances. there was even a failed attempt to run for mayor. but in the end, the "subway vigilante" remains a symbol of a very different time, one when americans had had enough. "the word right and wrong; they have too strong of a connotation. i think that what i did was justified and appropriate." we look at a political legacy encapsulated in a mistake. the chase. the trial. and the glove. we look at the spectacle that was the o.j. trial. and the summer we watched a presidency crumble. it's all today on "through the decades."

in 1988, dan quayle had the best intentions when he became the 44th vice president of the united states. but in june of 1992, he would show us just how one mistake can define a legacy. "i'm delighted to be a part of that team, ready to go to work and continue to change america and make it even greater." dan quayle was a 41-year old senator from indiana when george bush picked him as a running

mate. but one letter would cement his place his history. "at a stop at a new jersey classroom, the vice president puzzled students and teachers when he blundered during a spelling bee." "you gotta wait for the vice president. wait for him to see it...try it one more time." "spell it again and add one little bit on the end. you're right phonetically. yeah. there you go." afterwards, quayle chalked up his mistake to reading the school's misspelled flashcards against his better judgment. but it didn't matter. the vice president added an "e" to a potato and the media had a field day with it. quayle seemed to have a knack for embarrasing himself publicly. there was the debate in 1988. "i have as much experienece in

the congress as jack kennedy did when he sought the presidency." "senator. i served with jack kennedy. i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you are no jack kennedy." and this about the holocaust "it was an obscene period in our nation's history. no, not our nation's, but in world war ii. i mean, we all lived in this century. i didn't live in this century but in this century's history." but things went from bad to worse when the 12 yr old boy involved in the spelling bee incident piled on. "the vice president spelled it wrong and i was right but i can't argue with the president....vice president. so, i guess he was wrong and i was right." in the 1950's the idea of

transplanting human organs thatill shelley but in j fiction a boston group is commonly the dr. jo a kidney from ronald herrick and graftt to his he latern the 99 for .but the fi organ hr y,,,,,,,,,,miracle.

in 45 minutes, they got blood flowing again in the kidney and tucker was recovering from surgery. controversy aside, ruth tucker would live 5 more years before passing away from unrelated causes. dr. lawler never performed another transplant case saying he only wanted to get things started. still to come on "through the decades" the slap the media couldn't get enough of. and the u.s. kills two of the most famous spies. plus a retail renaissance is born. the civil rights act was approved after an 83-day filibuster in the u.s. senate ... a landmark piece of . outlawing discrimie ... religion ...ex. or national origin ... it may have been the most famous celebrity slap ever.

the year was 1989. zsa zsa gabor, the hungarian born socialite and actress, known for that "dahling" accent and her gift of acquiring husbands, nine in case you're keeping track, made headlines around the world when she slapped a beverly hills policeman. "and finally a story that may need no introduction. certainly, not if you watch the late night tv talk shows and hear the jokes. not if you know anything about how america's been consumed by the hype and hoopla of celebrityhood and certainly not if the name zsa zsa means anything to you." this is zsa zsa's version of how it all went down. "i was scared for my life." she was driving her rolls royce in beverly hills, when she was stopped by policeman paul kramer. "a gorgeous, tall beauty." turns out, her license was expired. zsa zsa says he kept her waiting in the hot car for a really long time so she asked if she could go. "and he says to me 'bleep off.' i thought that meant go - because he was pretty far away. so i took my car and i started driving on olympic and he stops me like if i'm a criminal. and as i stopped, the window was still open in the car because it was so hot. he pulled me out

by the window and he says 'you bleep get out of the car' and as he pulled me he hurt me so terribly. it was my instnict. it was a reaction or it was a self defense. i hit him." "i didn't do anything wrong." she says she was screaming in agony when kramer handcuffed her with her arms behind her back and then things got even worse. "now you bleep, bleep, bleep, bleep. i'm going to break both of your arms. he put me in the back. he took my both arms handcuffed behind me but so strong i screamed 'it hurts' and he says 'now i'm going to break your legs' and he kicked my legs with his boot but i don't know with what because i was like that and i was hysterical. then he made me sit down on the thing, on the, what do you call it, the curb and i screamed 'help! help! help!'" zsa zsa was arrested. "then they put a tag on me and made a mug shot which i found rather funny cause i've never had a mug shot in my life. i've seen it on television." at a press conference zsa zsa defended her actns saying she

never cursed at the officer. "honey, when a man has a gun in his pocket and i'm in handcuffs, will i curse him? nobody's that stupid. i curse him when he's in bed with me but i don't curse him when he has a gun on him and i am in handcuffs." zsa zsa was charged with - battery on a police officer, disobeying a police officer's orders, driving without a valid driver's license, driving an unregistered car and having an open bottle of alcohol in the car. "you could've pled guilty." "why would i when i'm not guilty?' "he had a gun in his pocket. i was once held up in europe for a three million dollar ring. the man had a gun and i gave him my ring. i was insured. let's face it. i know what a gun means." she was sentenced to three days in jail, 120 hours of community service and fined $2,350. she also had to reimburse the city of beverly hills for $10,000 in extraordinary court costs.

"i cannot listen to all those lies." but in july, the lady used to the finer things in life spent three days in jail for failing to perform her community service. "and the toilet was very cold." just like everything else in this case, cameras were there as she left her stint in the slammer. "let me make one thing clear. i didn't have any silk sheets. my husband brought in a pillow because i needed a pillow and a blanket. that is all. these people were wonderful. i was sleeping with a horse blanket." despite the fact she got no special treatment, it wasn't all gloom and doom. "and i learned one thing. there are much more attractive policemen in there then paul kramer. ten times handsomer and much nicer." zsa zsa even worked while she was behind bars: "i had to file. i don't even know the a-b-cs. they wrote it out for me. a-b-c-d and then i learned the a-b-cs and then i filed but very well. they were complimenting me. i had done a great job." then it was time to get back to

her luxurious life but with a few lessons learned. "never fall for a handsome face and don't drive a rolls royce in beverly hills. really. don't." june 19 saw plenty make their mark. in 1897, moe howard was born. he's recognized by his famous bowl cut and as the leader of the three stooges. six years later, henry louis gehrig would come into this world. he went by lou when playing with the new york yankees. on his 36th birthday, he was diagnosed with a-l-s, a disease more commonly referred to by today as simply, lou gehrig's disease. others born on this day, an american socialite not even a king could resist. wallis simpson was born in 1896. and singer paula abdul in 1962. then in the midst of the red scare, julius and ethel rosenberg, a married couple from new york, were convicted of spying for the soviiet union.

it was on this day in 1953, they were executed in the electric chair. history has a peculiar way connecting eras. fitting lou gehrig shares his birthday, june 19, with the day the american past time was born. in 1846, the first officially recognized baseball game was played in new jersey by two new york teams, the knickerbockers and the new york nine club. in 1923, the american comic strip, "moon mullins" started its nearly 70-year run syndicated in the chicago tribune and the new york news syndicate. and in 1954, warner brothers introduced the world to the tasmanian devil. he premiered in "devil may hare." our journey "through the decades" continues he was the football hero, the movie star and then he was the murder suspect.

we're looking back at how the o.j. trial player out on our televisions. a gift that stands tall to this day. and how a mall to top them all played direclty into a changing american mindset.

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the difference? try adjusting up or down you'll know cuz sleep iq™ tells you. only at a sleep number store. where you'll find the best buy rated mattress with sleepiq™ technology. know better sleep with sleep number. welcome back to through the decades ... on this day in pop culture the game show "i've got a secret" premiered in 1952. following an initial 15 year runthe show enjoyed several revivals. the h came in 2006. and in 1978, on this day, the first garfield comic strip was published. since the lasagna loving cat has built a media franchise spawning movies, tv shows and becoming the most widely syndicated comic strip in the world. then in 1992, "batman returns" opened in theaters nationwide. the second and last film in the

batman series to feature tim burton as director and michael keaton as batman. phones,tablets, laptops are all accessories of our daily routines and deeply ingrained in our lives. but before they could fit into our pockets, we had to learn just what we were missing. and that process began back in 1951. "and the word tonight is univac." univac or the universal automatic computer was the first commercially produced electronic computer and the first one was shipped june 15, 1951. five years earlier, j. presper eckert and john mauchly created a nearly five hundred- thousand dollar machine called "eniac" that required fifteen thousand feet to warehouse. because of eniac's computer power, it could add five thousand numbers in one second. scientists working on the first hydrogen bomb used it in their work.

following that success, eckert and mauchly started their own business and began to working on cutting down the size, cost and power usage all while trying to up the performance. when that didn't go as planned, remington-rand bought their company and provided the resources to make the "univac" a reality. by june 14, 1951, remington- rand dedicated its first 16 thousand pound univac-one to the u.s. census bureau. "it's the first electronic computing system to be proven by widespread use." the very next year the univac became famous when cbs news used the fifth one ever produced to predict the winner of the 1952 presidential election. the univac shocked people when it correctly predicted dwight eisenhower would win in a landslide soon after the first polls closed. the univac soon gave way to newer technology. transistor computers that were a lot smaller and used up a lot less power. but in 1951, the idea of a

'work' computer was born. and we have the univac to thank, or blame, for the screen driven culture that dominates our cubicles and classrooms, not to mention our lives. "the world's first electronic computer practical for commercial use." june 17, 1994. americans were watching the nba finals when a former football star grabbed their attention. o.j. simpson was being chased by police down a los angeles freeway. simpson's ex-wife, nicole and her friend ron goldman had been found murdered four days earlier. before the trial. before the glove. before the verdict. police found a man and woman murdered outside a home in l.a.'s brentwood neighborhood. that set off one of the more

bizarre series of events in the history of television. at 5:51 pacific time on friday june 17th, 1994, o.j. simpson called 9-1-1 from the back of a white ford bronco. it was a call that set in motion a three hour rolling standoff and more than a year of tracking the nfl hall of famer's every move. ==cn_o j simpson 9== "simpson's former wife, nicole, and a man were reportedly shot and killed outside a west los angeles condo. in 1989, simpson pleaded no contest to charges that he beat his wife and allegedly threatened to kill her." cops questioned simpson right away but didn't officially charge him for four days. on june 17, they gave o.j. until 11 a.m. to turn himself over to police. instead, he disappeared. "good evening. a manhunt is underway in los angeles at this

hour for o.j. simpson" "mr. simpson is a wanted murder suspect, two counts of murder, a terrible crime. we need to find him, we need to apprehend him, we need to bring him to justice, and we need to make sure that we find him as quickly as possible." "if you in anyway are assisting mr. simpson in avoiding justice, mr. simpson is a fugitive of justice right now, and if you assist him in any way, you are committing a felony." friend and former teammate, al cowlings, ignored those warnings. for more than two hours cowlings manned the wheel of that white bronco as it led cops on a 60-mile low-speed chase on the l.a. freeways. "this is extraordinary. ground level shot there and you can here people cheering from the sidelines" "that's very bizarre" nearly every major network either broke away from their programming all together or

went split screen. people flooded the highways in an odd display of cheering fans rooting for a murder suspect who was considering suicide. cowlings would end up taking o.j. back to his home in brentwood but it would take another hour for police to coax him out of the bronco and into their custody without the gun. o.j. was booked at 9:37 p.m. ten and a half hours after he was supposed to turn himself in. "like it or not it was the question across the country this weekend. did you see that bizarre stuff from los angeles? the police chasing o.j. simpson friday night? tens of millions of americans did see it on live television." after the circus of the chase ended, a new one began in for form of a trial . "prosecutors say they can prove simpson is a murderer. that he planned the killings in advance and they say he acted alone." simpson denied those claims from the beginning "not guilty."

and had the help of a defense team that would become nearly as famous as the defendant himsel", it began." o.j. hired robert shapiro and johnnie cochran. "defense attorney johnnie cochran, jr. insisted o.j. simpson would not, could not, and did not murder his former wife nicole brown and ronald goldman." cochran pitched a narrative that painted the l.a.p.d. as racist and jumping to judgment. "the fact that blood mysteriously appears on vital pieces of evidence and it's predicted what the results will be, regarding dna, when that evidence still in the police lab, is devastating evidence of something far more sinister." and even if the prosecution was convinced it had the evidence to convict simpson "the mere fact that we find blood where there should be no blood; in the defendants car, in his house, in the driveway,

and even on the socks in his very bedroom." driving that point home produced the defining moment of the case. "a potentially powerful moment appeared to backfire when prosecutors asked o.j. simpson to put on the bloody gloves, they say, he used to commit murder." "if it doesn't fit, you must acquit." "good evening the crime was shocking, the verdict dramatic, the trial of o.j. simp is over." for those old enough, october 3, 1995 will always be one of those days where you remember where you were. the jury deliberated for barely more than a day and produced a verdict met with the gasps of the nation. "we, the jury, in the above entitled action, find the defendant orenjal james simpson not guilty" "whoa!" "of the crime of murder in violation of penal code section 187-a, a felony upon nicole brown simpson." while simpson's supporters and

family cheered--- "i just feel like standing on top of this table and dancing a jib " the prosecution was devastated along with the victims' families. "we are, all of us, are profoundly disappointed with the verdict." "last june 13, 94, , was the worst nightmare of my life. this is the second." on top of producing a polarizing verdict-- "i felt it was disgusting and a total miscarriage of justice." "free o.j.! free o.j.!" the case brought to the forefront themes that are just as relevant today as they were in 1995. "o.j. simpson was in jail and

the nation enthralled for 473 days. today his imprisonment and trial are over, but the questions raised about race, the police, the judicial system, are not." perched ove the new york harbor ... one arm outstretched bearing a torch ... the other clutching a tablet ... stands the very symbol of the united states of america ... the statue of liberty ... and on june 17, 1885, lady liberty arrived in the u.s. the statue of liberty was first conceived in 1865. by french intellectual edord de laboulaye, as a monument to honor america's centennial and the country's friendship with france. it was later supported by sculptor fredric bartholdi and in 1870, he began designing what he called "liberty enlightening the world." the entire statue was completed in paris between 1881 and 1884.

it was then disassembled, loaded onto the french navy ship "isere" and shipped across the atlantic arriving in new york harbor on june 17, 1885. but because the statue's pedestal wasn't finished, it would be another year before lady liberty was officially unveiled. the statue of liberty's role as an american icon of freedom was immediate. becoming a beacon and a landmark for the rush of immigrants entering the country at ellis island. a welcome site, following miles and miles of uncertain blue sea. as for the american people, the statue of liberty would become an important companion to the stars and stripes, equally essential to the country's identity. the emblem of the democracy that drapes a union. forever stitched into the

fabric of america, the statue of liberty is a steadfast piece of popular culture. a frequent subject used to evoke a most fervent patriotism whose absence from the country's landscape would be unimagineable. a unique twist of fate for a creation born of foreign minds. .still to come on "through the decades," the day a ride in the park would change forever. and, the scandal that brought down a president.

once, just the name of a building complex in washington d.c.'s foggy bottom neighborhood. and now forever analogous with political scandals of the greatest magnitude. watergate. it's a term that ingrained itself into the american lexicon on june 17, 1972. thanks to a break-in that would eventually bring down the president of the united states. before the sun was up on june 17, 1972 five men were arrested at gunpoint inside the offices of the democratic national committee on the sixth floor of the watergate complex. with them, police found electronic bugging devices, forty rolls of unexposed film and two thirty five millimeter cameras.

"democratic party officials are considering some kind of legal action based on a claim of violation of constitutional rights. defense lawyers for the men arrested are planning legal action seeking to reduce the bail imposed on their clients." days later, it was revealed that one of the burglars was james mccord, a former cia agent. and coordinator for the committee for the re-election of president nixon was quick to distance himself maintaining his staff wasn't involved. and while, at the time most voters believed him to investigators, mccord's link to the president was glaring. throughout the rest of 1972, for the media and the american people, the full implications of the scandal lay dormant. president nixon won re-election in a landslide. but it was a victory built on an elaborate cover-up that was quickly unraveling.

"for secret activities you need secret money. we have concluded that a large secret fund was assembled in the nixon campaign organization, probably more than a million dollars. republican leaders admit there was a special cash fund, but argue about its uses and about the word secret." almost immediately following the june 17 watergate break-in president nixon arranged "hush money" for the burglars and ordered the cia to block the fbi's investigation into the source of funding for the burglary. but less than two months later, a $25,000 cashier's check earmarked for nixon's re- election campaign was found in one of the burglar's bank accounts. it was a discovery that set investigators on a revealing money trail bolstering suspicions of a much larger scheme. "who ordered the wiretaps? republicans claim the responsibility ends with the seven indicted men. democrats

charge the orders must've come from higher up." "i confirmed to the committee today that i neither asked the cia to participate in any watergate cover up, nor did i ever suggest the cia take any responsibility for the watergate break-in." by early 1973, the media began to grasp the scope of the conspiracy and it wasn't long before some of the conspirators began to crack ... "mr. mccord, are you now going to tell all, give a lot more detail than what's been previously known about the watergate affair?" it began with mccord, who while facing sentencing for his role in the june 17 burglary stated publicly that he and his fellow defendants were pressured to keep quiet and plead guilty. "political pressure from the white house was conveyed to me in january, 1973 by john caulfied to remain silent."

"and i was told that while there i would receive financial aid and later rehabilitation and a job." "the subcommittee will come to order." not long after, nixon's top aides were implicated. "how come one hundred and fourteen thousand dollars from the proceeds of a campaign contribution to him was found in the bank account of a burglar. i'd like to pursue that in this investigation?" "well, mr. chairman your inference is very unfair." "i had no knowledge of or involvement in the planning or execution of the break-in or bugging of the democratic national committee headquarters." john ehrlichman attorney general richard kleindienst chief of staff h.r haldeman and white house counsel john dean on april 30, 1973 all four were out forced to resign except dean who was fired. but dean did not go quietly. he

testified before the senate watergate committee about the president's complicity noting that investigators would have to look no further than nixon's tape- recorded conversations from the oval office. "now, i guess you're fully aware, mr. dean of the gravity of the charges you have made, under oath, against the highest official of our land, the president of the united states?" "yes, i am." "the president said last night that his denials of any part in the watergate cover up had been challenged by one man. he didn't name the man, but clear from these excerpts of testimony that the man whose word it is against the president's is john dean." "and i state again to everyone of you listening tonight these facts. i had no prior knowledge of the watergate break-in."

dean's revelation marked the beginning of the end for nixon. in march, 1974, a grand jury indicted seven of the president's former aides and named nixon as an "unindicted co-conspirator." then, in july, the supreme court ordered nixon to turn over the tapes. he complied. handing over undeniable evidence of his involvement. and facing almost certain impeachment. on august 8, 1974, nixon resigned. "but as president, i must put the interest of america first. therefore, i shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow." watergate took a brutal toll on the nation. for two long years it hung heavy over a country already beaten down by years of

involvement in the vietnam war. and when it was finally over, the american people were left with hard realities. forcing deep skepticism of their leadship. but while it's remembered as a catalyst for distrust in government. watergate offered a moment of reassurance. shining through all the lies and cover-ups was the integrity of the american system. checks and balances. the power of the people, to control those elected to lead. the office of the presidency, nor politics for that matter, would ever be the same. forever at the mercy of an increasingly critical media. and an american public constantly suspicious of the abuse of power. musical powerhouse stars off with a queen, and beatle shocks his home country. also why the timing was just right in the late '80's for a mall unlike any other. 12nd on ly

2nd only to elvis, pat boone was a monster of music in the 1950's. and it's momentum he carried with him into the '60's when his rockabilly track, "moody river" topped the u.s. charts on this day in 1961. six years later, paul mccartney

stunned a british society on the brink of a counterculture movement when he admitted to taking l-s-d four tig a tv interview. and in 1980, the newly founded geffen records signed its first artist, disco queen, donna summer. it took a big idea that went even bigger. in the late '80's the timing was perfect for the mall of america. "carts rolling down the malls at southdale" southdale, the first indoor mall in the country opened its doors in 1956 in edina, minnesota. it was a foreign concept at the time from the mind a foreign- born architect austrian victor gruen. minnesota was the perfect place to test his indoor mall idea. a way to keep people shopping in the middle of the state's brutal winters. on top of the indoor shopping, he also made room for thousands of parking spots at a time when nearly every household had a

car to get there for the first time in history. by the late '80s and early '90s, the shopping mall was hitting its peak. in 1990 alone, 19 of them opened nationwide, the most up to that point. that meant when workers broke ground on the mall of america the week of june 15, 1989 just seven miles from where the first indoor mall was built the timing was perfect. when the mall of america finally opened in 1992 more than four million people crammed the mall during its first month. but, like most things throughout history, technology begins to make old concepts obsolete. the mall of america is still a major tourist attraction in bloomington, minnesota. but nationwide the mall is dying a slow death. from the opening of southdale till 2006, fifteen hundred enclosed malls were built. but no one has developed a single indoor mall since. now online shopping has become a lot more conveinent and less expensive than driving to a crowded mall. but for the better part of 50 years, the shopping mall was king. and none was bigger than the

'mall of america', which broke ground this week in 1989. the mall is still successful despite that downward trend. in-part because the massive structure also houses an aquarium, a wedding chapel, and 25 rides and attractions, beyond perusing for a new pair of shoes. how americans have fun was transformed this week back in 1884. america's first roller coaster started running on brooklyn's coney island and while it didn't set any speed records, it provedthe country was ready for a thrill. the very first of those type of "happy landings" came in the spring of 1884. that's when lamarcus thompson opened his new switchback railway, 600 foot track considered the world's first roller coaster. the idea of people sliding on a track goes back to the 17th century when russians would build tall ice slides. europeans built rides with wheels in the early 1800s but

the first version of the modern roller coaster we see today came from thompson. he was inspired by a former mining railroad in pennsylvania. the mauch chunk switchback was a gravity-run track that started carrying passengers along the line in the mid 1800s. after three years of development, thompson created his own switchback railway at coney island in 1884. it was a single track where passengers got off on the opposite end. it took less than three weeks for thompson to make back his sixteen hundred dollar investment. thompson's original switchback railway closed a year or two after it opened but that famous site on coney island would end up hosting another landmark ride. "the cyclone" at coney island started running in 1927 and is still going as the country's oldest running ride. it was the anchor of a series of amusement parks on the island and showed otr developers that coasters could be the main

attraction for parks around the world. disneyland help re-energize the roller coaster in the 50s and cemented an american urge for faster, taller, and more thrilling rides that continues today. while others were working on similar projects at the time, ,

our journey "through the decades" continues monday. from the birth of a prince, to judgement for the man who shot the president plus, we look at the fight that sent a message to a dictator and the disappearance of three men that brought the nation's attention to racial violence in the south. thanks for joining us. i'm bill kurtis.

this is a kpix 5 news special. >> it was a scary time. >> saigon had not fallen yet. >> we left with nothing. >> the front was moving south and it was going to be a matter of hours. >> if i had stayed, i would probably have died. >> if they don't rescue us, definitely we will die. >> i think i'm a lucky one. >> made for a richer country. >> i'm so happy today. >> why? >> because i love america. ♪[ music ] >> welcome, i'm veronica de la